0 NDIS Quality

and Safeguards
Commission

Supporting safe and enjoyable meals

eLearning module for NDIS workers
Mealtime checklist
The vital role of mealtime assistance

 I find, read, and follow the person’s Mealtime Plan.

 I provide enough time when planning mealtime assistance.
 I give the person my full attention during the meal.
 I communicate with the person about their meals and mealtime assistance needs.
 I take time to listen to what the person has to say during meals and about their mealtime choices.
 I value all forms of communication and support the person to use their preferred communication
method during meals.
 I include the person in decisions about their meals.
 I ensure the person has choice and control in relation to their mealtime needs.

Swallowing difficulty and oral health

 I can observe a person’s swallowing and identify some symptoms of swallowing difficulty.
 I can listen to a person’s swallowing and notice if they have difficulty with coughing or breathing after
eating.
 I can identify if a person has mealtime behaviours that affect mealtime safety.
 I check the person has swallowed the food and that there is no food left over in their mouth.
 I provide support for good oral hygiene practices and assist the person to access dental health
services.
 I know my First Aid and how to respond to a person who is coughing and choking on food.
 I know who to refer to if a person is having any trouble eating or drinking or other signs of swallowing
difficulty.

Food textures and nutrition: menu planning

 I can describe the IDDSI dysphagia diet textures and how to test food is the correct texture.
 I know about the Australian guidelines on good nutrition and keep this in mind for texture-modified
meals.
 I do menu planning ahead of time so that the person’s foods are available.
 I make efforts to ensure that texture-modified foods still look attractive on the plate.

Positioning and assistive technology at mealtimes

 I locate information about the person’s assistive technology needs

 I make sure the person’s assistive technology is available for the meal.
 I provide enough support and assistance with mealtime assistive technologies to enable the person’s
maximum participation.
 I assist the person to be positioned correctly during meals and adjust their positioning as required.
 I seek help from my immediate supervisor and a health professional if I notice anyone having difficulty
swallowing, eating, or positioning issues during mealtimes.

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Useful links
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission regulates NDIS providers, provides national consistency,
promotes safety and quality services, resolves problems and identifies areas for improvement.
http://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/

Useful resources within the NDIS Commission website include:

The NDIS Code of Conduct, which promotes safe and ethical service delivery by setting out expectations for
safe and ethical services and supports for both NDIS providers and workers.
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/workers/ndis-code-conduct
This factsheet provides information and examples of what the Code of Conduct means in practice.
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/document/811

NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators show the quality standards to be met by registered NDIS
providers when providing supports and services to NDIS participants. Together with the NDIS Code of Conduct,
the NDIS Practice Standards build NDIS participants’ awareness of what quality service provision they should
expect from registered NDIS providers.
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/providers/ndis-practice-standards

The NDIS Practice Standards High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors set out the skills and knowledge that
NDIS providers should have access to when delivering complex supports, safely, to NDIS participants. Enteral
feeding and management is included in the skills descriptors as a high intensity support activity.
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/document/1026

Reportable incidents: resources for workers is a list of resources to support NDIS workers to prevent, respond
to and report incidents that may occur when providing supports or services to people with disability.
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/workers/reportable-incidents-resources-workers

Practice Alerts and short animations and posters, that show key information for support workers on a variety
of topics can be found on the NDIS Commission website.
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/resources
These include:
● Dysphagia, safe swallowing and mealtime management:
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/document/2411
● Oral Health: https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/document/3321
● Lifestyle risk factors: https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/document/3316
● Medicines associated with swallowing problems:
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/document/2421

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Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology has information and advice on assistive technology, including information on aids
available to assist at home and in the community.
https://at-aust.org/

IDDSI framework
The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative framework for labelling and testing modified
texture food and fluids was adopted in Australia on 1 May 2019. The IDDSI framework consists of a continuum
of 8 levels (0-7), where drinks are measured from Levels 0 – 4, while foods are measured from Levels 3 – 7.
https://iddsi.org/
IDDSI also provide simple testing methods to ensure food and fluid are the correct texture.
https://iddsi.org/Food-Testing-Methods

Speech Pathology Australia

Find a local speech pathologist on the Speech Pathology Australia website. You can also access a number of
fact and information sheets on swallowing.
http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/

St John Ambulance
This choking fact sheet shows signs and symptoms of choking and what to do if choking occurs.
https://stjohn.org.au/assets/uploads/fact%20sheets/english/Fact%20sheets_choking%20adult.pdf
You can find this and other first aid fact sheets in a variety of languages on the St John Ambulance website.
https://stjohn.org.au/first-aid-facts

University of Technology
Co-Creating Safe and Enjoyable Meals for People with Swallowing Difficulty provides a range of resources and
access to training modules that aim to:
● improve the knowledge, skills, and confidence of any person providing food, drinks, or mealtime
assistance to NDIS participants with swallowing difficulty
● inspire and enable direct support workers and others to value the role of mealtime assistance and to
closely connect the concepts of mealtime safety with mealtime enjoyment
http://www.enjoysafemeals.com/

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission 3